Just curious but since they changed the ruling to disallow a shot that passes through the basket from counting, what if your disc passed outward through the basket from the inside would it then count. Haven't ever seen it happen, but i had never seen one sneak through from the outside either until I used a friends supper puppy and I shot 3 through in 15 minuets. I put with a stiff putter usually.

I played in a tournament (match play), and a weird thing happened. My opponent's putt hit the the number plate on top of the basket, then slid back so it was hanging off the prongs the the chains are attached to. It sat there, swinging back and forth - and the chains were still swinging back and forth, when he ran up and grabbed it.

I thought this was a little suspect, even though he was beating me badly enough to make it irrelevant, for 3 reasons:

1. I don't think the disc had come to rest, as it was still swinging back and forth, as were the chains. Not sure if this is relevant, but I think there was a good chance (I'd say 70%) it would have fallen off if he hadn't run and grabbed it first - but it almost certainly would have fallen into the basket because the basket was leaning a bit.

2a. My opponent told me it was touching the chains, and that meant that it was supported by the chains - and therefore was holed out. Is touching the chains enough (assume that, if you moved the chain that that the disc was touching away from the disc, that the disc would move or settle)? I think so, but I'm not certain.

2b. If touching the chains is enough, I never had an opportunity to see if it was touching, because he ran and grabbed it first.

I told him that being able to grab the disc before it fell didn't make a difference, but it was simply a question of whether the disc has come to rest - and if it fell after it had come to rest, because of a wind gust or some other force acting upon it, that would change the fact that it was in. He assured me otherwise.

He was being nice, and he was certainly sincere - and at that point I really didn't care about the point as he was just way better than me, and miles ahead in our match. I just let him have the hole (his was a birdie putt, and I was underneath the basket with a gimme par putt). I'm really just curious what is actually correct.

Also for consideration, it was a little breezy, and I guess it's possible that it could have kept swinging for a long time due to the breeze (maybe indefinitely?), so how do you know when it has come to rest?

As I said he was a nice guy and fun to play with, and this really had no impact on our match. I'm just curious.

pdga rules school wrote:These changes for holing out mean calls for the “putting tree” photo shown below that was in the Rules School story on Interference need to be updated. Under the old rules, only the yellow disc would not have been considered holed out when the player removed it. Under 2011 rules, the white and red discs are holed out (IN). The yellow disc as before and the orange disc hanging on the nub outside the basket are NOT IN. The orange disc balancing on the rim, which used to be considered IN, is now considered OUT in the 2011 rules because the disc is not entirely supported by the pole, inner wall or bottom of the basket. The orange wedgie is now NOT IN if the group observed it wedge from the outside. If the group did not see it or watched it clear the top basket wire then wedge on the way out, it is IN.

Regarding the picture - Why would the white disc be considered in, but not the yellow? It looks like the white is hanging from an internal eyelet/hook, not a chain link. I don't see how it is any more or less supported by the chains than the yellow which is hanging from an outer eyelet/hook.

pdga rulebook: 803.13B wrote:Disc Entrapment Devices: In order to hole out, the thrower must release the disc and it must come to rest supported by the chains and/or the inner cylinder (bottom and inside wall) of the tray. It may be additionally supported by the pole. A disc observed by two or more players of the group or an official to have entered the target below the top of the tray or above the bottom of the chain support is not holed out.

if the disc was swinging, it had not come to rest and he had therefore not legally holed out. kind of a moot point because, if it had come to rest hanging, it still wouldnt count.

Craig wrote:Regarding the picture - Why would the white disc be considered in, but not the yellow? It looks like the white is hanging from an internal eyelet/hook, not a chain link. I don't see how it is any more or less supported by the chains than the yellow which is hanging from an outer eyelet/hook.

I agree. This is a very strange case, and the rules don't seem very clear on this instance...even if most groups would probably consider the disc to be "in" for the white disc without much debate, the rules need clarification.

i putted through the facemask with a gummy evo wizard yesterday for the first time. i thought the putt was low and was already bending down to pick up my mini and then heard chains to look up and see my disc in the basket. the guy i was playing with asked if it went in...he saw it going to miss low also and took his eye off the basket. crazy stuff i tell you.

The white disc probably isn't a good example primarily since I'm not sure how a disc could get to that position, considering what I needed to do to jam it in there. It was actually touching the inner chains but not really "supported" by them. I think the words in the rule may need to be changed from "chains" to "deflection assembly" to better deal with baskets that may not have chains in the middle.